Su Banxia returned to the office and saw Pei Shaoze looking down at documents. She moved quietly back to her seat.
Pei Shaoze heard the sound and looked up. Seeing that the pastries she had taken out weren’t brought back, he figured she must have given them to Yan Xin, and his brow furrowed slightly. His displeasure was already obvious.
Su Banxia only felt the temperature in the air drop a bit, feeling cold, but didn’t notice his sudden shift in mood. After sitting for a while, Pei Shaoze finally spoke, placing a document on the desk and looking at Su Banxia. “Go to Yan Xin’s office and tell him to come see me!”
His tone was clearly very unhappy. Su Banxia didn’t dare say anything and quickly stood up. “Okay!”
She then left the office and headed straight to Yan Xin’s. Walking a bit, she found it strange—Pei Shaoze could have solved this with a single phone call, but he deliberately made her run the errand. Obviously, he was doing it on purpose. But even so, she didn’t dare complain!
So she hurried to Yan Xin’s office, rushing in. Yan Xin saw her and, thinking she was bringing pastries, smiled. “Are your pastries heated up?”
Su Banxia was startled and instinctively wanted to say, “I already gave them to you!” But then she realized something was off—not long ago, there was no trace of pastries on his desk. Zhang Shanshan hadn’t given them to him?
Thinking this, she didn’t mention the pastries and instead looked at Yan Xin. “Mr. Pei is looking for you. He seems a bit angry.”
Yan Xin frowned slightly, then stood up. “Mm.”
He walked out of the office directly. Su Banxia followed behind him and happened to spot an uneaten pastry in the trash can by the office door. She couldn’t help glancing at Zhang Shanshan’s desk. Su Banxia wasn’t one to let things slide easily.
Yan Xin had already gone to Pei Shaoze’s office. Zhang Shanshan noticed Su Banxia staring at her, and her gaze instinctively fell on the trash can next to Su Banxia. She paused briefly, then quickly stood up, walked over to Su Banxia with a apologetic look, and said, “Secretary Su, I’m sorry. When I came back earlier, I accidentally dropped the pastries, so…”
Su Banxia smiled faintly and nodded, her eyes fixed on her. “It must be tough for you as Special Assistant Zhang, right?”
The comment was out of nowhere, but Zhang Shanshan’s face turned pale. Su Banxia didn’t like playing guessing games with others, so she said directly, “Next time you do something, it’s best to keep your hands clean. If someone else sees this kind of thing, it’s awkward for everyone.”
Once or twice was enough. Su Banxia really disliked people who schemed behind others’ backs—honestly, it was petty. Though there was no real loss, it still left a bad taste in her mouth. After saying that, she left.
Zhang Shanshan stood there, her smile a mix of white and red, her expression extremely awkward.
Following Yan Xin into Pei Shaoze’s office, Yan Xin entered first. As soon as she stepped in, she overheard Pei Shaoze snapping at Yan Xin. “The Ye Corporation case—I told you to follow up. Why hasn’t there been any progress for so long? What, are you not going to go after Ye Corporation, or can’t bear to see Ye Lan suffer? If you’re so protective of the Ye family, you might as well go work for Ye Corporation and stop staying at Dingsheng.”
Yan Xin was baffled by the scolding. The Ye Corporation matter—he had been following it all along! It had only been three or four days, and he thought he was moving fast, almost done except for a few loose ends. What had made him so upset?
Hearing the tone, Su Banxia realized Pei Shaoze was in a bad mood today. So she carefully returned to her seat and sat down. Pei Shaoze caught her out of the corner of his eye, his face darkening as he looked at Yan Xin. “You have time to eat, but no time to work?”
Yan Xin: “???”
What had he eaten? Annoyed by the scolding, Yan Xin spoke up. “Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—these are everyone’s daily necessities.”
“Your daily routine is just lazing around and waiting to die?” Pei Shaoze’s words grew sharper. “With that attitude, you don’t need to come to the company anymore. Just stay home and laze around until you die.”
Nitpicking! That was the phrase that came to Su Banxia’s mind. Really. This man was deliberately finding faults. She felt a bit sorry for Yan Xin—having a brother and boss like this must be awful.
Yan Xin also realized Pei Shaoze was intentionally picking a fight, so he simply lowered his head and stayed silent. Seeing this, Pei Shaoze lost interest. He snorted and then told him to leave.
Su Banxia sat in her seat, carefully handling her own tasks, afraid of making a mistake. But it seemed Pei Shaoze had no intention of targeting her. The whole morning went smoothly for her.
At noon, during lunchtime, Pei Shaoze apparently had something to do and left on his own. Su Banxia breathed a sigh of relief, then relaxed, thinking about what to eat to calm her nerves.
Suddenly, Yan Xin sent her a message, asking if she wanted to have lunch together. Su Banxia agreed immediately. She had been at Dingsheng for a while, usually stuck with Pei Shaoze, trailing behind him. She had few friends, especially in the company. So today, with Pei Shaoze not asking her to eat with him and Fang Shiqing out with Lin Haoran, she would have had to eat alone. Having Yan Xin invite her was a welcome change.
So the two went to the company cafeteria together. It was Su Banxia’s first time eating there, and Yan Xin rarely came either. They found a stir-fry spot and sat down across from each other.
Yan Xin was a chatterbox, always finding topics even without one. “I heard from Shaoze that you went out this weekend?”
Su Banxia nodded and smiled. “I’ve been back in the country for a while, and the kids were cooped up at home. They’ve been pestering me to take them out, but I’ve been busy, so I took them this weekend.”
Yan Xin nodded and smiled. No wonder Pei Shaoze had called him to deliver food on Saturday.
After a pause, Su Banxia looked at him. “Sorry about the pastries this morning. How about you come over to my place sometime, and I’ll make some for you?”
Yan Xin was taken aback, then smiled. “Sure!”
Hearing this, he naturally assumed that the pastries Su Banxia brought had been eaten by Pei Shaoze. It was a small matter, so he didn’t dwell on it.
As they chatted, the waiter served the food. Yan Xin was still somewhat wary of Su Banxia, given the clues he had found that day. Now, eating together, he probed. “You’re really capable at work. Staying as Shaoze’s secretary feels a bit underutilized.”
Su Banxia didn’t overthink it and shook her head with a faint smile. “It’s okay. Mr. Pei might have a bad temper, but he’s a decent person. Besides, this position is something many women would want, so I don’t think it’s a waste.”
Yan Xin smiled and continued, “Have you thought about your future development?”
Future… Su Banxia paused, then smiled slightly. “Life is just a few decades. Who knows what will happen?”
At that, Yan Xin had nothing more to say.